GLIAC -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced its weekly awards following the third week of the 2024-25 men's basketball season. Michigan Tech junior guard Marcus Tomashek was named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week while senior forward Hunter Soper earned GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition for the second consecutive week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Marcus Tomashek, Michigan Tech
Junior guard Marcus Tomashek has been named the week 3 GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. This is the second offensive Player of the Week honor for Michigan Tech this season, as senior guard Pete Calcaterra was the Week one GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week. Tomashek, the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year selection, scored a career-high 40 points to hand No. 3 nationally-ranked MSU Moorhead its first loss of the season, adding a team-high 29 points against No. 6 Minnesota Duluth to help the Huskies finish 1-1 in the St. Louis County Basketball Classic over the weekend. The Green Bay, Wisconsin, native shot 15-for-29 from the field, including four-for-nine and six-for-eight from the charity stripe in Saturday’s win over the Dragons, amassing 30 of the Huskies total 42 points in the second half. He is one of six players in all of Division II to score 40 or more points in a game this season. His 40-point game also marked the first time a player from Michigan Tech has scored 40+ points in a single game since Kyle Monroe in Feb. 2020. It was also the Huskies' first win over MSU Moorhead since 2009.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hunter Soper, Lake Superior State
Hunter Soper has been named as the GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row. Soper’s defensive effort proved crucial to a pair of Laker wins at the McKendree DII Classic, totalling a pair of blocks and five steals at the event. On Thursday, Soper helped LSSU hold Missouri-St. Louis to only 46 points while securing eight rebounds, two steals, and rejecting a Tritan attempt while also scoring 21 points on the other end of the floor.. Then on Saturday, he continued to shine by swiping away three more steals and notching another block while also securing 9 rebounds to help his team hold the host team, McKendree, to a mere 4 second chance points and only 16 points in the paint.
HONORABLE MENTION
Offense: Kaden Brown (Grand Valley State), Nick Brown (Parkside), Ethan Erickson (Ferris State), Carmelo Harris (Wayne State), Julien Smith (Northern Michigan)
Defense: Jalen Charity (Grand Valley State), Nathan Claerbaut (Ferris State), Josh Terrian (Michigan Tech), Ray Williams Jr. (Wayne State)
